Charlie Shrem - "I Knew What I Was Doing Was Wrong"

[MicroGuy]

The top executive of a New York City-based Bitcoin company and a Florida Bitcoin exchanger have now pleaded guilty to enabling money to be funneled to the black market website Silk Road.

Charlie Shrem, of Manhattan, and Robert Faiella entered their pleas in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday. The case grew from the government’s shutdown of Silk Road. Shrem was chief executive officer of BitInstant, while Faiella operated an unlicensed money transferring business.

Shrem processed transactions for Faiella through BitInstant despite knowing the bitcoin would eventually find their way to Silk Road, where the funds would be used for drugs, he said in court.

“I knew that much of the business on Silk Road involved the buying and selling of narcotics,” Shrem said in court. “I knew that what I was doing was wrong.”

They were accused of letting more than $1 million in Bitcoins reach the website Silk Road, where they said narcotics were bought and sold. Both men agreed to forfeit $950,000 to the government as part of their plea deals. Sentencing was set for Jan. 20, when each faces as much as five years in prison.

Authorities have said Silk Road’s San Francisco operator generated more than $1 billion in illicit business since 2011 on the website. It used Bitcoin, a tough-to-track digital currency, before being shut down.

U.S. authorities shut down Silk Road last year, though a new version bearing the same name was launched soon thereafter. The man accused of creating and operating Silk Road using the alias “Dread Pirate Roberts,” Ross William Ulbricht, is facing separate charges and is scheduled for trial in November.

Full Story: http://altcoinpress.com/2014/09/charlie-shrem-pleads-guilty-in-federal-court/

[knight22]

Thankfully his arrest combined with the shut down of Silk Road put an end of people using immoral vegetation!

Oh wait...http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/182083-the-silk-road-2-0-is-now-bigger-and-better-than-ever-before-whats-the-fbi-to-do

So much resources wasted on this lame war on drugs....

[BitCoinDream]

Thankfully his arrest combined with the shut down of Silk Road put an end of people using immoral vegetation!

Oh wait...http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/182083-the-silk-road-2-0-is-now-bigger-and-better-than-ever-before-whats-the-fbi-to-do

So much resources wasted on this lame war on drugs....

Now which exchange is supplying coins for SR 2.0 ? Coinbase... I guess

[franky1]

Thankfully his arrest combined with the shut down of Silk Road put an end of people using immoral vegetation!

Oh wait...http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/182083-the-silk-road-2-0-is-now-bigger-and-better-than-ever-before-whats-the-fbi-to-do

So much resources wasted on this lame war on drugs....

Now which exchange is supplying coins for SR 2.0 ? Coinbase... I guess

yep and if they can prove atleast 1 'bit' (100satoshi) is linked between coinbase and narcotics. then coinbase will be put into a similar situation

[goozman96]

I was expecting more of a fight from Shrem.. They must have scared him good in order to get him to agree to a plea deal.

[arcanum]

For some reason i always read "Charlie Sheen" 

[BitCoinDream]

I was expecting more of a fight from Shrem.. They must have scared him good in order to get him to agree to a plea deal.

Get yourself in the same situation and U'll know how does it feel like. Its not very pleasant when the state is against U. Look at Roger Ver. He had to leave the country...

[Soros Shorts]

I was expecting more of a fight from Shrem.. They must have scared him good in order to get him to agree to a plea deal.

Get yourself in the same situation and U'll know how does it feel like. Its not very pleasant when the state is against U. Look at Roger Ver. He had to leave the country...

The John Galts are leaving the US ...

[Beliathon]

I was expecting more of a fight from Shrem.. They must have scared him good in order to get him to agree to a plea deal.

"Alright Charlie, we own you now. You understand that? So if you don't want to spend the next twenty years having your face be used as a fucking condom for bubba, here's what you're going to say. You know what you did was wrong. Make sure you say the word 'narcotics'. It makes drugs sound way more dangerous and scary."

[goozman96]

I was expecting more of a fight from Shrem.. They must have scared him good in order to get him to agree to a plea deal.

Get yourself in the same situation and U'll know how does it feel like. Its not very pleasant when the state is against U. Look at Roger Ver. He had to leave the country...

Valid point. What if there was a constitutional amendment that said the government can't spend more money than you can if you had to defend yourself. That would even the playing field, would it not?

[BitCoinDream]

I was expecting more of a fight from Shrem.. They must have scared him good in order to get him to agree to a plea deal.

Get yourself in the same situation and U'll know how does it feel like. Its not very pleasant when the state is against U. Look at Roger Ver. He had to leave the country...

Valid point. What if there was a constitutional amendment that said the government can't spend more money than you can if you had to defend yourself. That would even the playing field, would it not?

That's really a nice idea, but I doubt how feasible it is. State may compensate a lawyer in other ways than money. Judges may be used as a puppet as well. The point is that, state does not have a face. U cant fight with a shadow. The only thing state machinery is afraid of is public opinion. So, unless u have it by your side, u cant ever win a case against the state with logic/proof.

[Beliathon]

I was expecting more of a fight from Shrem.. They must have scared him good in order to get him to agree to a plea deal.

Get yourself in the same situation and U'll know how does it feel like. Its not very pleasant when the state is against U. Look at Roger Ver. He had to leave the country...

Valid point. What if there was a constitutional amendment that said the government can't spend more money than you can if you had to defend yourself. That would even the playing field, would it not?

Or we could just end the failed, wasteful, racist, and cruel war on drugs and permanently ban the associated life-destroying, policing-for-profit witch hunts. Learn about Civil Asset Forfeiture


"In 2000, Portugal decriminalized the use of all illicit drugs, and developed new policies on prevention, treatment, harm reduction and reinsertion. Drug use is no longer a crime, but it is still prohibited."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/03/17/lowering-the-deadly-cost-of-drug-abuse/decriminalizing-possession-of-all-illicit-drugs
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/evaluating-drug-decriminalization-in-portugal-12-years-later-a-891060.html

[beetcoin]

so for him to say this.. does it imply he has some sort of deal to say what he did to receive a lighter sentence?

[master-P]

I was expecting more of a fight from Shrem.. They must have scared him good in order to get him to agree to a plea deal.

"Alright Charlie, we own you now. You understand that? So if you don't want to spend the next twenty years having your face be used as a fucking condom for bubba, here's what you're going to say. You know what you did was wrong. Make sure you say the word 'narcotics'. It makes drugs sound way more dangerous and scary."

I don't think the government can dictate what exactly is said when a defendant pleads guilty. It is actually generally the other way around that the government agrees to make specific statements/recommendations to the judge in exchange for a guilty plea. 

[Beliathon]

so for him to say this.. does it imply he has some sort of deal to say what he did to receive a lighter sentence?

Yes. In these plea deals they always tell you what to say to the court. That's half the point for them, they want to control the conversation and how it's presented.

 http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/04/charles-shrem-bitcoin-supporter-pleads-guilty-to-federal-charge/

[bitcoinstarter]

I was expecting more of a fight from Shrem.. They must have scared him good in order to get him to agree to a plea deal.

"Alright Charlie, we own you now. You understand that? So if you don't want to spend the next twenty years having your face be used as a fucking condom for bubba, here's what you're going to say. You know what you did was wrong. Make sure you say the word 'narcotics'. It makes drugs sound way more dangerous and scary."

I don't think the government can dictate what exactly is said when a defendant pleads guilty. It is actually generally the other way around that the government agrees to make specific statements/recommendations to the judge in exchange for a guilty plea. 

The guy's life was on the line.  It is best to get the situation wrapped up IMHO.

[fancy_pants]

The beautiful thing here is that bitcoin doesn't need heroes or martyrs.  Nevertheless, I hope "Free Shrem" t-shirts sell like hotcakes!

[Ron~Popeil]

so for him to say this.. does it imply he has some sort of deal to say what he did to receive a lighter sentence?

Yes. In these plea deals they always tell you what to say to the court. That's half the point for them, they want to control the conversation and how it's presented.

 http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/04/charles-shrem-bitcoin-supporter-pleads-guilty-to-federal-charge/

This is absolutely correct. My father in law is a criminal defense attorney and has told me some stories about this kind of stuff.

[titulng]

What does it matter which knew wrrong.

[master-P]

I was expecting more of a fight from Shrem.. They must have scared him good in order to get him to agree to a plea deal.

"Alright Charlie, we own you now. You understand that? So if you don't want to spend the next twenty years having your face be used as a fucking condom for bubba, here's what you're going to say. You know what you did was wrong. Make sure you say the word 'narcotics'. It makes drugs sound way more dangerous and scary."

I don't think the government can dictate what exactly is said when a defendant pleads guilty. It is actually generally the other way around that the government agrees to make specific statements/recommendations to the judge in exchange for a guilty plea. 

The guy's life was on the line.  It is best to get the situation wrapped up IMHO.

I agree 100%. I personally think the charges were bogus and nothing more then a technicality. He was probably also charged with harsher charges then what was really appropriate. He was facing decades in prison and that level of uncertainty gives him just too much of an incentive to reach a plea deal.